Revelations
by Unidentified Pie
Summary: Eden's thought that Daniel was dead for six years. Now, after the war is won and they are safe, it's time to catch up on lost time. Little stories about Day and Eden, set after the war and their move to Antarctica.
1. Anniversary

**A/N:**

**30/1/15: Rewritten because copy #1 made my eyes bleed. Guys, how the hell did you manage to read it without wanting to be sick?**

**The storyline of this chapter just diverged sharply from what was originally there. My imagination ran away with me, and like an obedient pet author, I followed. If anyone misses the original (and I highly doubt they did, but if you do) feel free to PM me or leave a review and I'll put it up. **

**Hope you enjoy, and please let me know what you think! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the story, or the characters, because if I did, this would be part of a book and not just fanfic, correct?**

**Anniversary**

It's not a good day.

It's not a good day, and Eden's already bad eyesight keeps getting made worse by tears itching in his eyes, and he can't pay attention in class because there is something tearing his lungs apart in his chest.

A teacher calls on him for an answer and Eden's mind comes up blank; he takes a look at the board and guesses an answer that's way off - for one thing, the answer was supposed to be in words, and definitely not the string of numerical code he just spat out. Eden sits back down, flushing, glaring at his fists.

He should have listened to Daniel and stayed home today.

After class he gets cornered by a bunch of bullies, big-sized boys with shoulders twice the width of Eden's own skinny frame and ugly sneers on their faces. And they call him blind, call him a stupid little geeky kid who doesn't know anything but numbers and tech-

-and Eden flushes, grits his teeth and balls up his fists and glares at the ground, furious, raging, swallowing down his hundred-and-twenty-six retorts until one of the bullies says: "That famous brother of his is pretty worthless, huh? Bet all the stories are exaggerated - I mean, he couldn't even keep his own little brother safe. Look, the kid's blind and probably deaf, too-"

And the boy can't get anything else out because Eden has felt something inside him snap, busting open like a grenade splintering into fragments, and there's suddenly skin ripping beneath his nails and a nose cracking beneath his fist and points are being rapidly deducted from the edges of his vision and Eden doesn't _care_.

Daniel is _all he has left_.

They don't get to judge Eden's big brother. They don't get to judge the only family Eden has _left_.

Eden has lain on a table while scientists discussed his big brother's death above his head. He has learnt of his mother's death from a cold-eyed guard and he has cried tears mixed with blood from eyes that could no longer see and no one to hold him close, because as far as he knew everybody he'd ever loved was _dead_.

And _Daniel came back. _Daniel was alive when the rest of his family wasn't, Daniel ran back for him as the rest of the world exploded into fire and war. Daniel picked Eden off the street and carried him to safety. Daniel saved the Republic, Daniel stopped a war, and Daniel would do absolutely _anything_ for his family, and no one gets to badmouth him while Eden is around.

Eden has lost _too much_ to stand around doing nothing while people insult his family.

And then teachers are pulling Eden off, and Eden's eyesight is blurry because his glasses fell off in the commotion. He doesn't care, his bloody lips are pulled back in a snarl and he's being forcibly restrained by three teachers, and the all boys are doubled over, choking on cries. One of them has a broken nose and another has been kicked so hard in the untouchables that Eden hopes he doesn't ever manage to have children, and the third one has a black eye that Eden can see even without his glasses.

Eden really enjoys his new life in Antarctica, where everything is a game, but he has to admit, the constant loss of points every time he throws a punch is really annoying, and he is very glad that he lost his glasses because seeing little numbers being subtracted at the edge of his vision was seriously frustrating him. At least in the Lake sector people were able to fight without seeing little numbers going down.

It takes all three teachers to haul Eden into the office. Once there, Eden glares at the floor, picking blood and skin from beneath his nails, and it's only when the secretary picks up the phone and says "Daniel Wing? Yes, there's been some trouble with Eden, we'll need you to be here," that Eden starts to feel the prickle of guilt in his gut.

It's not a good day. Daniel shouldn't have been called.

It's not five minutes later that Eden looks up and sees Daniel standing outside the window.

His first thought is: this is the _sixth floor_.

His next thought is: shit, Daniel looks _worried_.

Eden tries for a smile, big and bright, and he watches Daniel's shoulders relax. His big brother smiles back, blond hair blowing into blue eyes, and points at the secretary.

_Watch this._

Eden grins, real this time, and sits up straighter as Daniel begins tapping on the window.

Just a single tap, at first, and when the secretary doesn't look up he taps twice. The secretary glances up, twisting around in her chair to look out the window. By then, Daniel's ducked away from the window so that he's not visible, so the secretary shrugs and goes back to her work.

Daniel pops his head back into the windowframe, grinning, and Eden swallows down a laugh.

His big brother taps his fingers in a rhythm on the glass - tatatatata-tata. The secretary looks at Eden and Eden shrugs. Behind the woman's back, Daniel holds one finger to his lips.

_Hush_.

The secretary frowns and pushes her chair back, striding across the office to open the door and sticking her head out. She pulls her head back in, still frowning, turns around-

-and jumps back with a scream, a hand reaching up to cover her mouth. Daniel grins, waving, and motions at the window; after a few moments of clutching her chest, eyes dilated with horror and fear, the woman hurries over to the window and lets him in. He scrambles through the window, lean and lithe, and Eden bits his split lip so that he doesn't fall out of his chair laughing.

"Daniel Altan Wing?" The secretary asks, voice shaky but still managing to pull off disapproval. Daniel flashes her a grin, brighter than all the school's florescent lights put together.

"That's me."

"I would appreciate if you would enter by more traditional means."

"Where's the fun in that? Anyway, I wanted to be here as soon as possible, you made it sound like my presence was of _utmost importance_, cousin." His old Lake sector slang slips into his words; deliberate, because Eden knows that Daniel happens to be a _master of disguise - _nothing slips past his lips without him wanting it to - and because Eden knows that mischievous sideways twist of his big brother's grin.

Daniel has always, always loved spiting authority. And he's tried to reign it in, tamper it down to raise Eden _right_, but he can't stop it any more than Eden can stop thinking of things to build. It's a part of him, after years of living with less than enough, after all that he's been wronged, and he can't just swallow it down.

"It is still not appropriate," the secretary says. Daniel shrugs.

"I didn't lose any game points over it, so what's the problem, cousin?"

Her face twists in annoyance for a moment, then she frowns and clears her throat. "Well. We are sorry to have bothered you, but it is necessary that we discuss Eden's inappropriate behaviour."

"Oh?" Daniel looks genuinely curious. "What did he do?"

"He got into a brawl with three upperclassmen and caused considerable disruption."

"What did the upperclassmen do?" Eden is encouraged by the fact that Daniel immediately blames the other side.

"They ganged up on me and insulted you."

"Ganged up on you?" asks Daniel. Eden nods. It's not the main reason, but it's true, and anyway the main reason is _none of the secretary's business_.

"Then they deserved it." Daniel turns to the secretary. "So what's the problem, cousin?"

"We do not encourage students to settle arguments by fighting, and we would prefer that they find a more peaceful solution to things," the woman says, icy and crisp. Her eyes could cut diamond, Eden thinks.

Daniel shrugs.

"I'll talk to him later." The secretary smiles a brittle smile and nods, thanking Daniel for his trouble, and Daniel inclines his head towards her before turning away. Eden jumps out of his chair and scampers after him, happy to escape the office.

As they walk home, Daniel speaks up. "So, what happened to the rest of the boys?"

"They had to go to the nurse." Eden replies, and Daniel laughs, asking about how his baby brother turned so fierce. Eden just smiles, feral, and Daniel ruffles his hair.

"So what was the real reason you went after them?" Daniel asks casually, and Eden jerks his head up, shocked.

Daniel just laughs.

"You don't go after people without good reason. What did they do?" Eden hesitates, because this is true, but he supposes that he was a little too hasty in attacking them.

"They insulted you." Daniel raises his eyebrow.

"That's all?"

"They said that you were useless, and that the stories were exaggerated, and I hope the jerk I kicked never ever has children because he's such a bastard he'd raise them badly-"

"_Language_, Eden. And _where_ did you kick him?"

"He was a _jerk_," Eden insists, glaring at the ground and kicking a stone. "And castration was invented for a _reason_."

Daniel laughs, ruffling Eden's messy hair. "Remind me to never get on your bad side."

Eden scowls at the ground. "You're _not_ useless," he says fiercely.

"Glad you think so," Daniel says, taking it lightly because he's always taken himself lightly, and Eden smacks him on the shoulder so hard Daniel yelps.

"You should think so too," Eden says, and runs off before his big brother can catch him.

-x-

They're earlier home than they expected.

"Guess what," Daniel says, sitting cross-legged on the floor. "Eden here got his first suspension today. Can't tell you how goddy proud I am."

Eden shoves Daniel's shoulder. "Daniel! Don't tell her all the bad stuff!"

"Yeah, he's growing up just like me. Big and strong and fierce, yeah?"

"Get _real_," Eden throws in, before Daniel gets a swollen head, and Daniel smiles sideways at him.

"He's growing cheeky. I should beat that out of him-" Eden whacks his brother, hard.

"I'll beat you!"

"Hey!" Eden sticks his tongue out at Daniel. Daniel rolls his eyes. "Lucy's keeping us fed, you'd love her meat pies. His eyes are getting better, too. Maybe I'll sign him up for archery - he could be goddy Hawkeye, yeah?"

"Daniel!"

"Alright, yeah, he's good. Aced all his classes, they're thinking of promoting him early. He's a goddy genius, is what he is."

"And Daniel's been so boring," Eden puts in, because stupid Daniel doesn't talk much about himself. "He just runs buildings, every single day since he was able. But he's not dying anymore, so I guess that's good-"

"You _guess?!_"

"-and he tries to help me with my homework - do you know he can assemble eighteen different kinds of bombs?"

"Thirty," Daniel puts in. "Eighteen without materials on the black market."

"He's also a _big fat showoff_."

"Aww, baby brother, don't worry, I'll teach you." Daniel grins, swings out an arm like a drunk man.

"So we're good," Eden says, and smiles big and wide. "We're both fine. I'm looking after Daniel, and Daniel's looking after me, and Lucy's helping."

"Yeah." Daniel's voice is low and his smile is soft. "We're great. So don't worry."

"We miss you," Eden says, and his voice is choking up, and no, no, _no_ he was_ doing so well_-

Daniel wraps his outstretched arm around Eden, gentle and strong. Eden's vision is blurry with tears.

"Take care, mum."

The one picture they have left of mum, faded and soiled with brown at the edges, smiles back at them. Her eyes are piercing even through the paper and glass.

And Eden buries his face in Daniel's chest, face hot and damp with tears, as his world shatters apart.


	2. Trust

**A/N:**

**I was pretty happy with this chapter, even if it's short and maybe a little sappy. Hope you'll like it too!**

**Trust**

That evening, Eden asks Daniel what it feels like to run buildings, and Daniel laughs and replies "I'll show you."

Somehow he ends up on Daniel's back, and then they are flying across the rooftops, looking down over the city, and Eden knows why Day was so famous, so feared.

Daniel takes the city, takes every building, every wall, every bit of sky and turns it into his playground, into a foothold or a step. They move at exhilarating speeds, and leap from one rooftop to another, defying gravity for one amazing, breathtaking moment before they land. When they land, Eden hardly feels it; Day lands so softly, so perfectly and with so much ease it amazes him - he hadn't known it was possible for a human to land so quietly.

It doesn't even occur to Eden that he should be scared, even though he's a half-blind boy riding on the back of an eighteen-year-old teenager who was but a year ago in a coma and the two of them are leaping buildings twenty stories in the air, because this is his brother, this is Daniel, and Daniel would never, ever let him fall.

He hasn't felt this free in a long time, without the constraints of society and school, ignoring even the laws of physics as they very nearly fly.

So he laughs, the wind in his face and trailing fingers through his hair, whistling in his ears, and Daniel's laughter mixes with his, blending into a beautiful melody as they run across the city at dusk, the setting sun before them and orange streaks in the air.

It is so beautiful, so perfect, and so amazing. Eden realises how much Daniel must have missed this when he was sick and weak, confined to the ground, unable to even run without being assaulted by piercing headaches.

It must have been to Daniel what it was to a bird that could not fly.

They race from building to building, ledge to ledge, until the sky is dark and the air is cool. Daniel finally tires, and it feels like they have been running for hours. Eden is all ready to get off and let Daniel stop, when Daniel tightens his grip on him, and tells him laughingly not to go before the finale. He asks if Eden is ready, and Eden replies with an eager yes.

Then Daniel launches them off the building, and Eden decides that he definitely wasn't ready, a short shriek escaping his lips as he tightens his arms around Daniel's neck in what is very nearly a chokehold.

They plummet into a pile of soft sacks some fifty meters down, and Eden is hyperventilating. Daniel laughs, whooping, and Eden just clings tightly to him, resting his head on Daniel's back, and trying to get his heart out of his stomach. It works, but then his heart attempts to break out of his ribcage, and this is when he swats Daniel's shoulder.

He is planning to berate his big brother, but instead a laugh falls from his lips, and he is yelling that that was completely awesome, which was actually the complete opposite of what he was going to say.

Well.

But it had been awesome, and it had been fun, and Eden had never been in any danger - Daniel wouldn't have let him fall, the very idea is laughable. And Daniel deserves to know that he has given Eden something amazing and wonderful, so Eden lets it slip, telling Daniel about how absolutely fun that was. Daniel smiles, proud and pleased, as if giving something nice to his little brother is the highest possible achievement.

To his big brother, it probably is, even after fighting a war and surviving chronic, deadly sickness, even after living on the streets and fending for himself, even after taking the name Day and becoming the Republic's most wanted criminal turned hero, making Eden happy is probably Daniel's most prided achievement.

And that in itself brings Eden joy.

"Daniel, let's go for dinner." Eden says, as his stomach rumbles. Daniel laughs, and ruffles Eden's hair.

"Where do you want to go?" That is a good question, and Eden surveys the unfamiliar area. He discovers that the particular pile of sacks they've landed in is in some sort of shipment area, a short walk from the business district. He hopes that Daniel knows the way home, because he sure doesn't, and it would be humiliating to have to call Lucy and beg her to rescue the two of them.

But in the end, they probably won't have to call Lucy, because Daniel is, well, Daniel, and Daniel can find a way out of anything.

Eden sometimes wonders if he trusts Daniel more than is wise, but then he thinks about all that Daniel has done and would do for him, and he decides that there is no such thing as trusting his big brother too much.


	3. Alone

**A/N:**

**I actually had this chapter half-done in my computer, and when I saw that there were actually people who really enjoyed this story, I decided to just finish it up and post it. Thank you so, so, so much, all ye people who followed and favourited this story! And big, big, big thanks to LegitParkourNinjaLion, my very first reviewer! **

**So, LegitParkourNinjaLion, as thanks, I don't mind if you sketch out that flashback of June you wanted to see. Like, you can tell me what it is that you want to see, and post it in the reviews, or PM me, and I'll try to incorporate it into this story the best I can. If it won't fit in the story, but I've found it a really good idea, I might even make it into another story for you.**

**I hope you guys enjoy this chapter - I was pretty pleased by how it came out. Also, reviews encourage me to update faster. Hint, hint.**

**Alone**

They meet Tess sometimes, when she comes over to visit, and Eden is always eager to hear more about his big brother's stunts as Day. Tess is eternally kind and sweet, and always obliges him, regaling him with tales about Daniel's adventures on the streets. She always makes Eden laugh by telling him about the expressions of shock and fury on the officers' and guards' faces whenever Daniel succeeds on a run, which is often. She paints pictures with her words of Daniel's different disguises, and always succeeds in getting a giggle out of him when she talks about how confused the officials always are when Day transforms from a bald boy with big green eyes to a dark skinned lad with curly hair and brown eyes.

But today something is wrong. When he opens the door for her, Tess has an angry, sullen look look on her face, frustration pouring off her in tangible waves. It is such a strange sight, to see sweet, happy, bubbly Tess this upset, and Eden wonders what has happened to make her like this. The moment she sees him, Tess plasters a wide grin over her face, but it's a little too large, too wide, too forced and too obviously fake, and Eden is not fooled. When he asks her what's wrong though, she just waves it off and says in an annoyed tone: "Nothing, just some problems at work."

They must be some very big problems to make Tess this mad. Eden wonders if perhaps a doctor managed to screw up and kill a patient that could have been saved, because it would need to be a problem at least that big to piss Tess off like this. He stays silent, because he doesn't want to be face to face with an angry, ranting Tess. Instead, he grins widely at her and welcomes her in, just as Daniel steps out of the kitchen.

"Good to see you, cousin." He says, and Tess smiles at him, even though a spark of anger lights up her eyes. Daniel eyes her warily as she returns the greeting. Still, he stays out of it, probably on the same basis as Eden.

Tess actually makes a very good effort to hide and suppress her anger that night, and her frustration seems to fade as she talks with Daniel and Eden. Eden even manages to wheedle a story and a quick game out of her before he has to get to bed, and when he crawls under the blankets, he dozes off almost immediately.

He is awoken to the sound of a raised voice. Since being nearly blinded, his hearing has improved, and his ears are crazy sensitive.

To his surprise and confusion, the voice doesn't belong to Daniel or Tess. Instead, it belongs to Lucy, and Eden's befuddled mind scrambles to find an explanation by making out her words.

"Day! What is she talking about?"

"Quiet! You'll wake Eden!" Daniel hisses.

"Explain. Now." Lucy says, in a slightly softer but very firm voice.

"The day of my trial. They took me to the hospital lab and experimented on me for something. I don't goddy know what, but they used me as some sort of lab rat and then threw me in the basement with a bunch of dead kids. All of them failed their trials - the Republic had no use for them." He gives a dry, bitter laugh. "Except I wasn't dead." Daniel whispers hollowly, and Eden's heart hurts.

Now he knows why Daniel had hated the thought of him being experimented on by the Republic.

"How can you let them, Day? They have no right to use the results from… from that!" Tess says, and her voice borders on a yell.

"Keep it down, cousin! You'll wake Eden!" Daniel says a second time. Eden is already awake though, and their volume is very good for eavesdropping.

"Day, they have no right." Tess repeats.

"They've already done the goddy experiment anyway, right? What's it matter now?"

"They're using your cells, your tissue and bone samples! It's human experimentation!"

"The Republic's already taken the samples, maybe it's better if they use it, just so it doesn't go to waste, yeah?"

"Aren't you _angry_? The Elector's made your Trial score public - with a perfect score, you should have been living a good life, not - not experimented on!"

A perfect score? Daniel? No, Daniel had failed his Trial. What was Tess talking about?

"But they've already done it, and the samples were already used, weren't they?"

"But-"

"It's been eight years, cousin. Even if I didn't want them to, they'd have done _something_ with the samples during that time. It's not like we can change it now."

"It's not fair." Tess said, so softly that Eden almost couldn't hear her.

"I've got Eden back, though, and I'm not the Republic's most wanted criminal anymore, so everything's fine." Daniel replies simply. "I'm going to make some warm drinks, yeah?"

Eden hears the clink of cups, and a few soft, unintelligible murmurs. He hasn't heard Lucy's voice since Daniel explained what happened on the day of his Trial, and expects that she's either still in shock or staying out of it because she knows it's personal. Maybe both.

Tess seems to have calmed down - Daniel's probably said something to comfort her. His big brother is very good at comforting people, Eden thinks.

She leaves, and Lucy talks about something with Daniel, so quietly that Eden can't hear them, so he creeps out of bed and presses his ear against the door.

"You poor boy." Lucy murmurs, and Eden can imagine her stroking Daniel's blond hair.

"I'm fine, Lucy. Eden's had it goddy worse." Day sounds indifferent, but there is an undercurrent of fury and passionate hate underneath it, and Eden has no doubt that those darker emotions are directed to whoever experimented on Eden, instead of those who have hurt Daniel.

It makes his heart ache, clenching as if something has a hold of it and is squeezing tight, and he wishes that Daniel would focus on his own problems for once.

"Yes, and Eden had you to help him through it. Who did you have?"

"Lucy-"

"_Tell me, Day_." Lucy says, voice hardening. "Who did you have?"

"I was fine on my own." Daniel replies, fiercely, with a fire and defensiveness that chills Eden to the core. "I was _fine_."

Daniel had no one. That much is clear, and it is a very painful, cruel truth. Eden finds that he cannot breathe right, because his chest is constricting painfully, and there is a lump in his throat, hard and dry.

Even if Daniel insists that he'd been fine, he should not have had to be alone. Eden imagines what it must have been like, to be injured and hurting and scared, with the whole world, his family and friends included, believing that he was dead.

The hollowness and panic that swamps him in that split second makes Eden's heart pound against his ribcage, beating even faster than before, until Eden cannot even hear his own ragged breaths above the sound of his thudding heart - it must have been a nightmare for Daniel, those first few days, or weeks, or maybe even months.

He drags in a deep breath, which sounds more like a gasp, and on the exhale, he gathers his courage and pushes open the door, watching as Daniel spins around to stare at him.

"Eden! How long were you-" He is cut off when Eden barrels into him, wrapping his arms tight around Daniel's waist and holding tight. He presses his cheek into Daniel's warm chest, clinging tightly to his older brother, who has been through far, far too much alone.

Daniel stiffens, shocked, before gradually relaxing, wrapping warm arms around Eden's back and rubbing small circles on his back.

"You idiot!" Eden says, though his actions belie his words as he squeezes Daniel tighter. "You should have told me."

"What good would it have done?" Daniel asks, still rubbing Eden's back in soothing motions.

Eden doesn't know what good it would have done, but he feels upset, somehow, that Daniel had just chosen not to share it with him, a strange sense of betrayal that he does not understand. He only knows that he's been through the same experience, the patient zero of a mutated plague, and that, as two people who have been through similar pains and struggles, _brothers_, no less, they should have been able to confide in each other.

"We could've talked." He mutters, and it's a stupid answer, a pathetic one, but it's true, and really, that's all that matters. Daniel's hand rests on Eden's head, ruffling his hair.

"It's alright, kid. Everything's fine."

And Eden wants to protest, because Daniel has been through so much, and it obviously is not _fine_, but his brother is here, and the two of them are safe and sound and _together_.

Tomorrow, Eden is going to make Daniel spill the beans about everything he does not know.

But for tonight, just for tonight, he will let it slide.

After all, Daniel is always watching out for Eden, and while Eden loves that, he can take care of himself for awhile, and there is always time tomorrow to patch up each other's wounds.

For now, it is enough that they are no longer alone, that they are both out of the labs and have their family with them.

And Eden vows in his heart that he will never let Daniel be alone again.

**A/N:**

**Thanks again for reading, and please review!**

**LegitParkourNinjaLion, if you didn't read the A/N above, please do so ****_now_****; the faster you tell me, the faster I can start.**


	4. Forgotten

**A/N:**

**Sorry I haven't updated in awhile - I was working on my other fanfics. But I think this chapter isn't bad. It takes place right after Day wakes up from his coma.**

**June is mentioned and talked about in this chapter, because LegitParkourNinjaLion was mentioning how June needed to be seen in this story. I know she's not talked about much, and she probably won't make many appearances in person, if at all, because I'm trying to stick to canon, and Daniel isn't supposed to remember her for ten years yet. But I will try to mention her more, and let her play a bigger part in the chapters.**

**Thank you so much for the follows and favourites, and an especially big thanks to LegitParkourNinjaLion for reviewing - it means a lot to me.**

**Forgotten**

Five months.

Daniel's been unconscious for five whole months, and Eden is getting worried that his big brother will never wake up. His big brother never moves, just lies there, like he's asleep, but no matter how much noise Eden makes, he never wakes up. Daniel's legs have practically became sticks, tiny and useless from going unused for so long.

Eden is worried about Daniel's reaction when he wakes up, because he knows that his big brother is full of life and energy, always running or laughing or moving, and knows that rehab will be a long, painful, frustrating process for Daniel.

Lucy dragged him from Daniel's side late last night, and now he stares at the ceiling, worrying and wondering if Daniel, if _they_ will be alright.

Because if Daniel isn't alright, Eden won't be either.

The phone rings in the living room, and Eden hears Lucy's voice on the phone. His heart jumps when he hears Daniel's name, and he leaps out of bed, flinging back the sheets and bursting from the room, heart pounding and swirling from some odd mix of anticipation, worry, and nervousness.

Lucy is there, speaking on the phone and covering her mouth as tears pour down her cheeks, and Eden's pounding heart skips a beat until he notices that Lucy is smiling, and she's choked with emotion, but it's not in a bad way.

When he realises this, his heart races at double time, fluttering in his chest as he runs over to her.

"What is it?" He asks, tugging at her shirt, pulling at her arms, jumping up and down restlessly, full of nervous energy. "Is it Daniel? Is he alright? Has he woken up?" Lucy tries to shush him, but it's a poor effort, her voice cracking and wavering, and she just looks so _happy_. Eden just knows it is good news, he just knows it.

"Yes, yes, I'll bring him over now… Alright, thank you so much. Goodbye." Lucy puts down the phone, standing there for a moment before whirling around and scooping Eden up, swinging him up and around as she laughs, eyes sparkling, and Eden laughs too, full of life and joy, heart light in a way it hasn't been for months.

He does not bother to get out of his pyjamas, he just grabs Lucy's hand and the keys, and they run, they run and run until they reach the hospital, and even then he doesn't stop, charging through the doors and speeding down the halls he knows by heart. He leaves Lucy in the dust, but it doesn't matter anymore - he's gone down this path so many times he could walk it in his sleep. And when he comes to Daniel's room, he flings the door open with a resounding bang, as the door whams into the wall and rebounds, forcing Eden to dive out of the way with a yelp. He shudders when it slams shut behind him, narrowly missing his body, and imagines the damage it could have done if it had managed to hit him. He thinks it have ended with him being hospitalised and Daniel being displeased by having to stay in the hospital longer than strictly necessary.

Daniel.

There is a chiming laugh, and Eden grins widely, savouring the sound he has not heard for months. Even if Daniel is laughing at him…

His big brother is awake.

His purple eyes fly up, and they lock easily with Daniel's brilliant blue ones, his eyesight having improved drastically over the past few months and his big brother's eyes too bright to miss anyway. He launches himself towards the bed, slamming into Daniel and burying his face in his brother's chest as Daniel's breath leaves him in a whoosh.

Too late, he remembers that Daniel is not as strong as he was a year ago, and he panics a little, until Daniel rests a hand on Eden's head, and suddenly Eden is crying, warm tears pouring down his face and soaking Daniel's shirt.

It had been five whole months, dammit. He had missed his big brother, had been so scared, so worried, and so guilty, because maybe if Daniel hadn't been shot protecting him, he might have gotten through the operation better.

And he is so, so happy, so relieved now.

"I thought you were gone." He says, voice muffled by Daniel's shirt and cracking from the tears. "I thought you'd left us."

"I'm not going anywhere, kid. See? I'm just fine."

Eden finds that he can't speak - his whole body is shaking with tears, tears that he's held back for months. Every time he tries to open his mouth and speak, all that comes out are shuddering gasps. Daniel runs his hands through Eden's hair, patting his back, and finally, finally he's able to compose himself.

"Has June come in to see you?" He asks. June must be so happy that Daniel's awake - she'd been so worried. Now that everything's over, the two can settle into their girlfriend-boyfriend thing.

Eden's not sure what he thinks about getting a sister-in law, but he supposes he can get used to it if it'll make Daniel happy.

"June Iparis? The girl who came in earlier? What about her?" What?

"Daniel, what are you talking about? It's June!" Eden says, looking up at Daniel and grinning, sure that this is a joke. His smile slides off his face, his heart growing cold and heavy as a stone when he sees no recognition in Daniel's eyes. "Your Princeps-Elect?"

"She's a Princeps-Elect?" Daniel blinks, looking mildly surprised, and Eden's heart completes its transformation into a stone and stops beating.

He can't breathe.

"Daniel, you can't remember?" Daniel looks guilty, and Eden feels like somebody's taken a knife to the stone substituting for his heart and is pushing it down, cracking the rock.

"Should I?"

Eden thinks he's going to cry. It is not fair, he thinks, that Daniel and June and the rest of them have had to go through so much, and they get this instead of a happy ending. Daniel has forgotten the girl he likes, the girl he talks about with so much fondness, marred by a deep-set sorrow. June, who obviously like Daniel just as much, must be heartbroken.

How on earth did June handle it? If Daniel forgot him or Lucy, Eden thinks his heart would turn into stone and crumble into irreparable fragments, tiny pieces of dust and ash.

Eden is starting to realise that the world and universe are horribly, cruelly unfair, and that they seem to be focusing much of their attentions on Daniel, who Eden thinks is the least deserving of this suffering. Can the world not take this out on somebody who actually deserves it, like the bastard who shot his mother?

It's not fair.

His eyes are filling with tears again, and Daniel looks like he's panicking.

"What? What have I forgotten, kid? It's… important, isn't it?" Eden wants to slap himself for making Daniel worry, but at the same time, he wants to slap the memories of June back into Daniel.

_Don't!_ He thinks to himself. _Don't stress Daniel out like this when he's just woken up._

_Give him time._ Yes, maybe Daniel will remember with time.

And when that happens, Eden thinks that like it or not, he's gonna get a sister-in-law.

He decides that he doesn't mind. Not one bit.

**A/N:**

**Is the ending too... abrupt? Sorry if it is - lemme know what you think, and I'll go over this and edit it. Please drop me a few reviews - they're really the fuel for the story.**

**Also, should I write about Daniel's rehab? 'Cos I know for a fact that since he wasn't moved for five months, his legs will be pretty thin and weak and useless, and he'll need therapy to regain his mobility. It seems fun and sorta angsty to write... What do you think?**

**God bless!**


	5. Mirror Image

**A/N:**

**I feel like a horrible person. I am so, so sorry. ka-neko, I know I said I'd post last week - really, I'm so sorry.**

**I've just joined and I'm already updating late - this is a bad sign. Sorry.**

**I did actually post that I'd be late on my profile page, but still...**

**Okay, anyway, I've been really uninspired, and I had judo training these two weeks, and I was working on my other stories, so the update was delayed. Please forgive me! I did talk about June in this chapter - LegitParkourNinjaLion, I hope this helps your desperate June cravings. XD**

**So, I was saying I might work on rehab, and it has received a good response, and it did seem interesting to do, so I'm working on it, but it'll probably be after this chapter. Also, a guest asked me to tackle rehab for Daniel's memories, so I'll probably try. This sort of counts as memory rehab, right?**

**Anyway, this takes place awhile after Daniel regains full mobility. I hope you enjoy it!**

**oOoOo**

**Mirror Image**

The strangest things jolt Daniel's memory. A doctor dropping a heavy box outside his room reminded Daniel of bombs exploding behind him, piercing headaches and a speedy getaway in a car. The elector's picture on JumboTrons brought to his mind him of a buffet, and, in Daniel's own words, a meeting with a dozen prissy senators.

They come across an elegant paper rose, and Daniel gets as close to a panic attack as he's ever gotten. His eyes go wide and huge and horrified, big and scared, and his breaths are ragged, shaky gasps that catch and hitch in his throat. His hands tremble, his eyes glazing over the way they do when he's hit by a particularly bad or confusing memory, and Eden reaches out, touching Daniel's arm, calling his big brother's name, asking what's wrong.

The moment he hears Eden's voice, Daniel snaps out of it, blinking and taking deep breaths to calm himself.

"Daniel? Are you alright? What's wrong?" Daniel blinks, looking at Eden confusedly for a moment, stunned and lost. Then his eyes clear, the fear that had clouded them dispelling as understanding washes over him.

"Was there… a night where we sat in the kitchen?" Daniel asks, fumbling in an attempt to phrase it. "I had a headache, and we sat together… I was dripping like a leaky faucet at the end." Eden laughs, because yes, he does remember that, he remembers spending time next to Daniel, talking about their past and Mum and John and all the mischief they'd gotten up to as kids.

"Yeah. Yeah, we did. You still had half a brain then. Now, though, you've got a quarter - you lost quite a bit of brain matter during the op. Don't worry, we'll try to get it back." Daniel swats at Eden's head, and Eden ducks away, laughing.

Daniel grins, rubbing at the band of metal that still sits on his ring finger, looking happy that he's found another piece of his missing memories, another piece to fit into the jigsaw puzzle that is his mind.

One thing never jolts his memory, but Daniel never lets go of it. There's a paper clip ring on Daniel's finger, half a dozen metal clips intertwined into a little band of silver, a series of beautiful, intricate swirls and twists. Daniel rubs it when he's nervous, or confused by a new memory, like it's something comforting, something that brings him reassurance. A relic from the past.

Eden is pretty sure it's from June. Daniel always tells him that he feels something missing, that there's an absence of something, and he doesn't know what. It's an empty hole, he says, like mum and John and dad left, except that Daniel cannot remember what it was that filled that hole in the first place. He says that the paper clip ring makes him remember, sort of, gives him a feeling that's he's at the edge of the memory, but not quite enough to put a face, an image to it.

And really? Who else could that be but June?

"Hey, Daniel."

"Yeah, kid?" Daniel glances up at him, but his finger still rubs the paper clip ring absently. Eden's surprised that he hasn't worn through the metal by now, with the incessant fingering.

"What else do you remember? Besides sitting on the kitchen floor and discussing stuff from the past?" Daniel frowns in thought.

"I remember the nightmare I had, the one that woke me up. I remember the headache getting worse, and you were… Screaming? Lucy was there too, and you'd contacted the hospital. There was lots of light, after that, and disembodied voices. I thought I'd either died or been dumped in the sea 'cos you guys all thought I was gone. It was actually doctors administering medicine. That's about it." Well, the nightmare part at least explained that panicked look Daniel had gotten. Daniel had been having pretty bad nightmares back then. Eden's heart sinks a little, because not long after Daniel had been discharged he'd gone on a date with June, and Eden had thought Daniel might remember. And he'd thought that the paper rose might've had something to do with June - after all, lovers exchanged roses, right?

Pity. But there's always the next memory, and if that doesn't work, there's always the next.

Instead of letting the disappointment show on his face, which might distress his big brother, Eden smiles up at Daniel.

"Well," he declares, "You've gotten about one-hundredth of your brain back. Add that to the one fifth you've gotten back before this memory, and you're almost back at half a brain. Keep going, Daniel, and you might finally end up with, I dunno, three quarters of one?"

"Hey!" Daniel pretends to be indignant, but he bursts out laughing instead, reaching out to tousle Eden's hair.

Eden laughs too, but it sounds empty to his ears, because he remembers, and he thinks of a girl, a smiling, dark haired girl with eyes that match her hair and little gold flecks in her irises. A girl who talked to Daniel the same way Daniel talked to her, with fondness and hidden affection and kindness, with a sense of kinship and understanding that makes Eden think that, somehow or another, Daniel and the prodigy, the Princeps elect, are not as different as one would think, that they are, in fact, two very similar people managing to be complete opposites all at once, an oxymoron, a paradox, two sides of a mirror, each a broken reflection of the other.

A girl from the gem sectors and a boy from the slums, a failure and a prodigy, eyes dark as night locking with eyes as bright and brilliant as the summer sky.

Two people with plenty of pain, plenty of hurt, missing parts of their families and therefore parts of themselves, hearts that are broken and souls that are shattered, the fragments coming together like pieces of an elaborate puzzle, to make the other whole.

Or maybe it's not as complicated as that. Maybe it is simply that there is a girl, who had abandoned everything to do what is right, and there is a boy, who had lost everything he'd ever owned, and fought for justice because of that. Two people from two different backgrounds, who'd lost the same things in different ways, fighting towards the same goal, and finding each other in the process, joining forces to fight side by side, back to back, each a support that the other would always need.

Daniel _is_ missing a part of himself, maybe not part of his brain, but he's definitely lost a part of his heart, or something. They aren't fighting a war anymore, but Daniel needs June and June needs Daniel, simple as that.

Daniel's given Eden back his freedom, a family, and is working on giving him back his sight. He's given Eden things that Eden's never had before, too, like money, a good home, an education in technology, and plenty of food.

It's Eden's turn to do something for Daniel, and he's going to do it. He's going to find a way, any way, and he's going to make sure that Daniel gets June back.

He doesn't care how long it's going to take - it can take days, weeks, months, years... even an age.

Eden will not give up until Daniel gets that bit of himself back again.

**A/N:**

**Also, I just realised that the chapter is actually pathetically short. Sorry! I'll try to update faster! I've got another two chapters in the works, but not quite ready for posting.**

**I hope you like it, though. It's sort of sweet, and I thought it would be good to go in-depth about Daniel's and June's relationship, as well as build up for another chapter I have in mind.**

**Anyway, thank you for reading, and thank you for all the support you've given my story. I love you guys! :)**

**Do drop a review to let me know if the chapter was no good. Is it too short? Too abrupt? Does it need more?**

**God bless!**


	6. Never Again (Part 1)

**A/N:**

**I am honestly really sorry for (sort-of) abandoning this fic. I fell out of the fandom and had this massive writer's block and I just couldn't post. It's better now, though, and I have another two chapters planned, so I'm hoping to post them soon.**

**No promises, mind.**

**(TheWordPlayersNinja, I have June appearing in a chapter soon, if you're still interested. XD)**

**Thanks for reading, and God bless!**

* * *

><p><strong>Never again (Part 1)<strong>

After everything Daniel has done, they should have expected the assassination attempts. It makes perfect sense - Daniel was the one who helped reform an entire country, who almost single-handedly ended a war. There were bound to be dissenters. They should have expected a few murder attempts.

They hadn't expected them.

Evidently, this did nothing to deter the assassins from coming anyway.

The first time it happened, Daniel had stumbled through the door with blood on his shirt and an already-purpling bruise on his face, and Eden had felt his heart freeze with horror.

It had looked worse than it was. Daniel was smart - he had lived for years on the streets; he knew well enough how to tell that people were following him. He had gotten off with a nasty uppercut to his face and a thin cut on his chest where the man's blade had skittered across his ribs. "You should see the other guy," Daniel joked, as Lucy fussed over him and Eden watched with wide, scared eyes.

The second time it happened, Daniel had waltzed into the house with a smile on his face; he had looked completely normal. That, more than anything else, scares Eden. Daniel had picked Eden up and hugged him tighter than usual, breathing a shuddering breath against Eden's neck with something like relief, and then Daniel had gone to the toilet and shut himself in.

Nothing out of the ordinary. Except that Daniel took an hour.

And when Daniel came out, Eden was _urgent_ - a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, he called behind his back, as he flung himself into the toilet and slammed the door shut. Daniel protested with something in his voice that bordered on desperation; Eden took one look around the toilet and _screamed_.

"_Daniel_!" He shrieked, fingers fumbling with the lock. He yanked open the door, and there stood his big brother, with wide eyes and a pale, pale face. Bloody cloths spilled from his hands - he had obviously been planning to quietly dispose of them, and not tell Eden or Lucy at all.

Behind Eden, in the toilet, there was blood all over the floor, pooling in small dark puddles on the ground. Most of it, though, was smeared, as if Daniel had tried to wipe it up - Eden noted the absence of cloth in any part of the bathroom - Daniel must have used all the towels in an effort to clean up the blood.

"_Daniel_," Eden said, and he hated how desperate his voice had sounded. "What happened? Where are you hurt?"

"It's _nothing_," Daniel tried to say, and he had the gall to try for a smile.

"Wrong answer," Eden said. Before Daniel had a chance to protest, Eden raised his voice in a yell - "_Lucy_!"

Daniel looked horrified. Eden did not _care_.

"Where are you hurt?" Eden asked, as Lucy bustled from the kitchen.

"What's wrong- _oh_." Lucy's voice went very flat and she went very still as her wide eyes fixed on the pile of bloody fabric in Daniel's arms.

"It's not that bad," Daniel tried to say, and Eden curled his hands into fists, nails digging into his palms.

"We'll decide that," Lucy said sternly, but there was a barely detectable tremor in her voice and her face was very pale. "Show us."

"I've already bandaged it. And cleaned it. It's _fine_," Daniel said, defiantly, and Eden wanted to scream.

"Unwrap it," Lucy said, and there was steel in her tone. "We have enough bandages to re-bandage it."

"_Really_-" Daniel said, with something bordering on panic in his tone, and Eden snapped.

"_Daniel_!" He yelled, and Daniel's head shot up at the fear in his voice. Something in Eden's eyes must have betrayed his terror, because Daniel finally dropped the bloody pile of cloth on the ground and reached up to pull his shirt off. Slowly, Daniel began to unwrap the bandages wrapped tightly around his stomach.

Then Daniel pulled them off and Eden put his hands to his mouth to muffle a scream as Lucy sucked in a sharp breath. The gash stretched across Daniel's belly, sluggishly leaking dark red blood and stitched with crude, uneven stitches. The area around it was swollen and angry, deep red.

Eden stumbled over to Daniel - "What _happened_, are you _alright_, how could you not _tell_ me?" He gasped, panicked. He was somewhere between fury and fear, because his stupid, stupid older brother has never known how to ask for help. "How could you try to treat this _yourself_?"

Daniel cupped gentle hands hands around Eden's face.

"It's alright," he said firmly. "I've had worse. Everything's alright."

"It's _not_," Eden said, and above his head Lucy met Daniel's eyes and nodded. "It's not alright."

"Eden's right, Daniel," Lucy said. "Tell us next time."

"Okay," Daniel replied, but the response came too fast and Eden knew that it was just empty words. "I'll-"

"_No_," Eden said, and he surprised even himself with how fierce the words came out. "_No_. Don't _let_ there _be_ a next time." If Daniel wasn't going to ask for help, then Eden never wanted him to _need_ it. And if Daniel wasn't planning on telling them when he was hurt, then he'd better stay safe and _un_hurt, damn it.

Daniel stared at him for a long, silent moment. And then he nodded, a grin spreading wide and bright across his face, something wild and fierce in his joy.

"Yeah," Daniel said, and this time he said it with the inflection of a promise. "Yeah. I won't, little bro."

"_Good_," Eden said.

The next week, a letter comes from Antarctica, offering Eden a place in their prestigious school of technology. _Antarctica_, where the technology is worlds ahead of the Republic's, where everything is a game, where no assassins will reach Daniel without considerable difficulty. Where they will be _safe_.

Daniel's blue eyes meet Eden's purple ones, locking on them with the weight of a million thoughts and words unsaid, and he takes the offer in a heartbeat.


	7. Voicemail

**Voicemail**

"June, _please_," Eden says, and he hates how pleading his voice sounds. "Please. Daniel needs you. He misses you - didn't you like each other? You were friends, right? I always thought-"

"We were friends," June says, and Eden hates how her voice comes out - wavering and guilty and so, so sad. He can't even bring himself to be angry at her. "But Eden, I can't."

"_Please_," Eden says, desperate. "He almost remembers you! If he could just see you again, I'm sure- I'm _sure_ he'll remember."

"Eden, I'm sorry."

"_No_!" Eden cries, desperate. "Daniel's been remembering, alright? And he's been having nightmares, every single night even when he pretends he doesn't. June, he keeps dreaming about-" He gulps, and it's almost a sob. "About mom, and- and John. And he won't talk to me, but he needs to talk to someone, so please, please June, just come, once. Or talk to him, just on the phone, or something-"

"_Eden_, I'm _sorry_. I _can't_." And Eden _wants_ to be angry at June. He really does. But her voice is desperate and raw and _aching_, and it is so terribly sad.

Before Eden can say anything, before he can tell her that Daniel _misses_ her, June hangs up with a _click_.

Eden stands in the living room, the phone gone silent in his hand, shaking as tears pour down his face. Daniel walks in and cries out, rushing over and holding him close, rocking Eden's body in panicked but gentle motions.

"Eden," Daniel says, and his voice borders on terror. "_Eden_, what's wrong?"

_Everything_, Eden wants to say, but he just shakes his head and cries harder, digging his fingers into Daniel's back and sobbing in heaving gasps. He pushes his face into Daniel's chest, tears soaking his big brother's shirt as he cries for Daniel, for June, and for everything that he himself could not save.


	8. Sick Day

**A/N: Okay so. It's been forever since I updated. Sorry 'bout that, just had no inspiration to speak of. Yeah.**

**Also, I'm currently rewriting the chapters (probably, when I have energy and time), because some of the earlier chapters make me want to scream. Gosh, my writing used to suck. My writing probably _still_ sucks. One day I'll probably look back at this and go blind like Eden. Well. Just kidding. I hope it's not that bad. **

**Yeah, anyway, leaving reviews to tell me what you think would be really great of you, and if I know how to write better you can read better stuff, wouldn't that be great? And if you like it, it's actually great motivation, which contributes to my writing speed! (This is not a threat or a bribe. It's true, even if the next chapter will probably come out eventually even without reviews. The key word is _eventually_ as compared to _higher writing speed_.) **

**Thank you ourlegendliveson for the encouragement and the recommendation of this story! It made me really happy!**

**Chapter 1 has changed greatly from how it once was. If you want me to repost the original as well, feel free to PM me or leave a review telling me so! Prompts are also greatly appreciated, and I'll see what I can do! Again, you can PM or review. :)**

**Okay, so, the chapter. I hope you like it? I have a bunch of ideas I'd like to scribble down soon, so lets hope this gets updated fast. :) Thanks for reading, dudes, you're all the best.**

**Sick Day**

"You're going to the doctor."

"_Daniel_."

Eden panicked when he found out he was sick, yeah. He won't deny that his heart stopped and his breath caught in his throat and his chest tightened with dread and fear, and that he'd spent a minute trying to calm himself before coming out to tell Daniel and Lucy.

He'll deny it to Daniel and Lucy, but the first thing he did when he woke up feeling fever-dizzy and nauseous was press his hands against his eyes, looking for blood.

But this is ridiculous. Daniel _wasn't even the one with the plague_, this is not making any _sense_. When Daniel had taken Eden's temperature, he'd looked more terrified than _Eden_, blue eyes blown wide and scared.

"It's just a flu," Eden says. Daniel folds his arms stubbornly, and Eden recognises the steel in Daniel's eyes. "You're going for a interview today," Eden tries. "You'll be late if you bring me to a doctor now."

"Why would I go for an interview when you're sick?"

"Daniel!"

His brother is an idiot. How has Eden not noticed this before? How did Daniel get a perfect score on his Trial?

How?

"I'll take him," Lucy suggests, and it's a great suggestion, but Daniel's got that look on his face - something made of steel and stubbornness as strong as a brick wall. He's not going to give in.

"I'm coming."

And that's iron in Daniel's voice. The sort of resolve that won't give under anything but the threat of an entire country's destruction, maybe not even then. Eden would know, he's seen it before.

Eden wants to hit him, but he knows for a fact that it won't change Daniel's mind either.

-x-

"It's just a flu," the doctor says, as Eden sits groggily in a chair, desperately grateful that they're in a clinic and not a hospital. (Daniel had wanted to go to a hospital. Eden had to go through an absurd amount of reasoning to get him to change his mind.)

Eden shoots Daniel a look - I told you so. Daniel just looks at him with something fierce and concerned in his eyes.

Medicine is handed over, Daniel pays, and everything is so smooth that Daniel can still make it for that interview he was going to go for. The job's nothing big - just something for Daniel to do, while Eden's in school and he's got time on his hands. The government offered him a position gathering intelligence, but Daniel says he wants to wait a bit before he goes for anything big like that.

Just something so I won't get bored, Daniel had said. A money-making hobby.

Still, it's not the job that matters, exactly - it's that Daniel doesn't need to keep doing this, keep giving things up for Eden when Eden can handle looking after himself for a bit. It's not even really looking after himself - he's got Lucy, hasn't he?

He tries to tell Daniel this, and Daniel just gives him a look that implies that Eden is crazy.

Haha. Implying that Eden's the crazy one, after all the insanity that Daniel has pulled. Call the _little_ brother the crazy one after the older one revolutionized an entire country, go ahead.

Very funny.

"It's not about that," Daniel says. "You're my little brother. Of course I'm going to look after you."

"The point is that you don't _need_ to," Eden explains exasperatedly.

Daniel gives him that look again.

"Of course I do," he says, in the same way any other person would say that the sky is blue and two plus two is four.

-x-

His head is heavy and his body is hot. Lucy's voice is drifting in from the living room.

"Daniel, go for the interview. I can look after him."

"No." Daniel's voice, hard and stubborn.

"Don't be silly, he's just caught the flu. He'll be fine."

"It won't hurt if I stay and keep an eye on him. Jobs can wait, yeah?"

Daniel's doing something stupid again, Eden thinks. I should tell him to stop being an idiot.

His eyelids are heavy, and when he tries to get up, he can't get his muscles to move.

His mind rolls back into sleep.

-x-

He wakes to a damp cloth on his face.

The fabric is rough but cool, and in the darkness of the room he blearily makes out the darker shape of Daniel sitting beside him.

"Daniel?" His voice comes out rough and broken. He coughs to clear his throat and finds that he can't stop, that there's phlegm in his raw throat and that every cough shakes his body and makes him tired.

Daniel rubs his back with a cool hand. "Easy, kid." A strong hand runs across his forehead and cards through his sweaty hair. "You slept all day, sleepyhead."

Eden blinks, eyes feeling as if they're filled with sand. All day?

"Did you go for the interview?" He croaks, hoping against hope that Lucy managed to force Daniel into it. Daniel laughs above him.

"'Course not," the idiot says, like it's the most natural thing in the world. Eden wants to hit him.

"Idiot!" Eden tries to scold Daniel and sit up at the same time, but dizziness washes over him and ow, his throat really hurts, so all he manages to get out is a cracking croak; when he tries to sit, his head spins and the world does loops and Daniel pushes him back down with almost ridiculous ease. "What if you don't get the job?"

"Then I find another one." Daniel rubs Eden's face gently with the cloth.

"But-"

"I'm not getting a job if it won't let me take care of you," Daniel says matter-of-factly.

"Stupid," Eden mutters. "I can take care of myself."

Daniel pokes him lightly on the forehead. "I'm here so you don't have to," he replies. "Go to sleep, little owl."

"Owls are nocturnal."

"Sick owls should take what they can get."

Eden blinks and scowls at Daniel. I'm not tired, he wants to say, but that would be a blatant lie.

His head pounds in time with his heart, a hammering throb that smashes against his skull, and his eyelids are so heavy.

"Idiot," he mutters, as he drifts off to sleep.

-x-

The room is still dark when he jerks awake again.

Eden blinks, body feeling hot and heavy, mind sluggish but infuriatingly restless. He blinks sandy eyes and twists his head, flinching back at the dark shape he can make out by his bedside.

Then he relaxes and his heart begins to slow, because of course, it's Daniel, his idiot big brother. Daniel, sitting on a chair he pulled up beside Eden's bed, with his head tipped back and hair pressed against the wall, fast asleep.

He sighs exasperatedly. It's just a flu. Lucy has told Daniel that. Eden has told Daniel that he's fine. Daniel has surely been through worse before.

And yet. The idiot sits by his bedside while Eden sleeps, even though it'll do no good. What, does he think Eden's going to die if he leaves his side for a moment?

_Oh_.

_When I saw you get sick, when the plague patrols came to our door and dragged you out on that gurney, with blood blackening your eyes… _

_I can't afford to lose you, too._

Daniel is so stupid. So, so stupid. Eden really needs to beat some sense into him.

His big brother snores ever so softly, and there are worried lines on his face, etched there even in his sleep. He's so worried over something so small, and-

-and Eden is going to hit him, really. Just maybe not right now.

Instead he crawls out of bed and stumbles over to the cupboard, dizzy with sleep and fever, and pulls out a blanket, then staggers back over to Daniel and pulls it over him, light and gentle as a butterfly's wingstroke.

Then he collapses back into his cocoon of blankets and falls asleep, and he doesn't dream of researchers or white coats or the smell of antiseptic.

Eden dreams of warmth, of safety, of being scared and pressing against his big brother's chest and knowing that as long as they're together it will be them against the world; it will be _alright_.

And he wakes up knowing that it's not just a dream.

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><p><strong>AN: Eh, thanks for reading! God bless!**


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